Darren Sammy, the captain with a permanent question mark against his place in the side, took out Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni in his first over after tea, and West Indies then chipped away at the rest to secure a crucial 95-run first-innings lead. Rahul Dravid and Ishant Sharma resisted with a 49-run eighth-wicket stand, but Marlon Samuels broke through that bit of resistance. Dravid ended with his sixth score of 50 or more past his 38th birthday. The regular fall of wickets, though, meant that unlike four of those six efforts, Dravid couldn't convert this one into three figures. Ravi Rampaul finished the innings with two wickets in two balls, consigning India to their lowest total at home in three-and-a-half years.Earlier, In a game of patience that was the West Indies innings, the batsmen blinked first to get bowled out for a below-par 304, losing five wickets for 48 today. Their bowlers, however, hung in gamely in face of the storm after the lull, an 89-run opening stand in 12.3 overs, to take four Indian wickets for 31 runs and leave the game hanging in balance. Pragyan Ojha registered his first Test five-for, Virender Sehwag his first Test fifty in 11 months, Fidel Edwards bowled fast with edges falling short of slips, but once West Indies saw an opening left by two freak dismissals, they burst right through.
There was no bursting through by the Indian bowlers. They tried honestly with stumps-to-stumps lines and restrictive fields. India made sure there were no easy boundaries available. The third man gap was plugged, and in-and-out fields employed. That four of the five wickets they took today fell lbw spoke of India's accuracy, and that none of the nine wickets to spin came through exploding deliveries and bat-pad catches pointed at the hard work they had to put in.After a token attempt with pace in the morning, India went back to Ojha with immediate rewards. Carlton Baugh, who had faced 70 balls without any loose shot, now tried a big sweep, and missed a full ball in Ojha's first over of the day. Darren Sammy lofted Ojha for a four over mid-on, rightly anticipated a flatter delivery and stayed back, but was deceived by a delivery fuller than expected. The ball could have drifted down leg, or it could have clipped the leg pole.
Overnight centurion Shivnarine Chanderpaul could be unhappy with two men at the other end. The bigger mistake was committed by non-striker Ravi Rampaul, who declined an easy single a ball before Chanderpaul was dismissed. The actual dismissal a touch-and-go affair. Bowling from round the stumps, Ishant Sharma went wide of the crease, bowled short of a length and outside off, angled the ball in, which stayed low to beat Chanderpaul, who was hit on the outside half of the pad, in front of middle and leg.
R Ashwin and Ojha shared the last two between them, leaving India about 27 minutes to bat before lunch. It was like the teams had conspired to make up in those 27 minutes for the lack of action over the last four sessions. Edwards, bowling in the mid-140s, found two edges in the first over, but neither carried to slips. Gautam Gambhir, the man who teased the slips, hit boundaries off three of the other four in that over. In Edwards' next, Gambhir chased one outside off again, perhaps still not out of the ODI mode, but this time Kirk Edwards couldn't catch it low to his right at third slip. If there was any doubt as to whether Edwards had walked under ladders on his way to the ground, it was cleared when he overstepped by a couple of inches when he clattered Virender Sehwag's stumps in the last over before lunch.
After lunch the Indian openers dominated on their home ground. While their skill at livening up the game on a dull track shone through, it was also possible because West Indies were prepared to attack much more than India did. Unlike India, they went with the traditional approach: the quicks bowled fast and either full or bouncers. There were more drive balls on offer, and the Indian openers took a liking to them.
If both had enjoyed good fortune earlier, balancing acts were soon to follow. Sehwag's straight drive ran Gambhir out. For an aggressive runner, Gambhir does make a few too many basic mistakes. This time, too, he held the bat in his right hand, and then turned around to try to make it back with his bat-less left hand facing the stumps.
Three overs later Baugh made a good collection down the leg side. Sehwag had tried a vertical-sweep, and even though his back foot never left the crease, Baugh knew there Sehwag would have to move that back foot to reach body balance. He waited, he saw Sehwag lift it momentarily, and stumped him. All this thught-processing happened in about two seconds.
Darren Sammy had more time than that to think of future proceedings, and he called back Edwards who had gone for 49 in his five overs. Edwards responded by trapping Sachin Tendulkar immediately with a skidder that moved in, a typical mode of dismissal on this track. Kotla's slow pace and low bounce had well and truly been reintroduced to the proceedings, and Devendra Bishoo cashed in by inducing an edge from VVS Laxman.
By tea, though, Yuvraj Singh had launched another attack, and in partnership with Rahul Dravid had added 31 in 7.4 overs.
